Sports teams slam council after pitches suddenly closed over ‘urgent safety concerns’

Emily Price 

A council has been slammed by sports teams after it unexpectedly closed several pitches citing ‘urgent safety concerns’ linked to damaged goalposts, despite years of warnings about the poor condition of the facilities.

Bridgend County Borough Council carried out safety inspections at seven of its football and rugby pitches at Newbridge Fields over the weekend.

It is understood that the checks were ordered after a goal post cross bar at a school playing field was found to be coming out of joint.

The council initially advised sports teams in an email that pitches two, three, five and six at Newbridge Fields would be unavailable with immediate effect, adding that it would reimburse pitch booking fees.

The local authority reassured teams that matches set to take place on pitches one, four and seven could go ahead.

However, the council later sent another email warning teams that following further inspections pitches one and four would also be off limits.

The email stated: “Please be assured that the team are doing everything we can to find a solution to the issue as quickly as possible.

“We are actively exploring all available options to minimise the impact on clubs, including identifying and sourcing alternative pitches where possible.”

Bridgend Sports, Bridgend Athletic, Broadlands Football and Bridgend Town Football have all been affected by the short notice closures.

Concerns have been raised that some teams could face league sanctions if they cannot fulfill fixtures.

Further concerns have been raised that, as the fields are in a public area, members of the public can still access them, meaning children could potentially use the pitches for impromptu games.

However, Bridgend Council confirmed the posts are in the process of being removed, meaning the pitches themselves can be used by the public or mini football and rugby sides that don’t require posts.

Chair of Bridgend Sports Justine Hostettler-Davies said in a post on Facebook that he had reported unsafe posts at the fields “months ago”.

Broadlands Football Club organiser Rachel Jayne said clubs had been telling the council for over nine years “about the lack and poor standard of facilities in the area”.

She said: “Newbridge Fields has been crying out for investment for years and, quite frankly, the facilities are the pits, yes there’s been more recent meetings about Newbridge, but we will believe it when we see it start, been here a million times before.

“Clubs have continued to grow, volunteers have kept giving their time, and hundreds of children, young people and adults rely on these spaces every week and it’s quite frankly dangerous for people, surface, posts, changing rooms falling apart, yet you charge thousands a year for this tripe.

“Clubs don’t expect 5 star facilities but safe and usable would be a great start.

“Now pitches are being closed because of issues clubs have already been raising for years. Refunds are not good enough.

“We need usable facilities, even schools opened up where necessary, immediate alternatives for clubs in the short term, and a proper long-term solution.

“The ‘renovations’ over the summer was seed and some sand, why wasn’t this looked at then and that information with the state of the posts and grounds was given yet again months back! Why now at the start of the season!

“Nine years plus of meetings and warnings should have led to action long before we reached this point.

“Go look at other councils. Got to be one of the worst council’s yet for supporting sports clubs and the community. It’s more than just sports for the community.

“Bridgend County Borough Council an urgent meeting with clubs would be a good start and some interim facilities support, instead of out of hours email to us all and run, after a long working week, it’s the volunteers who have to sort this s##t out again because of your incompetence on top of our own work and jobs, and families lives as well as countless hours of voluntary work on top, and now hours and hours trying to house hundreds of players, for something you’ve had repeated warnings about for years!

“Absolute joke. Not forgetting some of the clubs walked BCBC around these facilities in the summer and recently for you to see with your own eyes.”

The Bridgend Independents group says they are seeking an “urgent meeting” with Bridged Council and affected sports teams.

The group said: “We are aware of the continuing issues at Newbridge Fields where all pitches have been closed.

“This is an outrageous situation, which is the culmination of years of neglect and under investment.

“We are calling for immediate action from Bridgend County Borough Council and will be seeking an urgent meeting between the authority and the clubs affected.”

A Bridgend County Borough Council spokesperson said: “In the interests of health and safety, we have temporarily closed the sports pitches at Newbridge Fields following an independent inspection which found the posts to be unsafe.

“We are committed to carrying out the necessary repairs as quickly as possible and are supporting the affected sports clubs in finding alternative pitches for any upcoming fixtures.

“The existing posts are now also being removed ahead of their replacement.

“This action hasn’t been taken lightly, and we recognise the impact this is having on our sporting community, but the safety of all users is our number one priority.

“All cancelled bookings have been reimbursed, and we would like to thank the clubs and wider community for their understanding. Regular updates will continue to be provided to all concerned.”

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